Greyscale was, as his parents put it, completely useless. He hardly knew any spells, he was unemployed, and he had been a blank flank for twenty-three years. A normal day for him consisted mainly of drinking cider and going to at least three parties. No matter how many times his parents tried to kick him out of their house, he used their words against them and managed to stay one more month. This had been going on for three years, and his parents were sick and tired of it. All he did was get drunk off of their expensive Canterlot cider and trash their expensive Canterlot home. And they had decided to do something about it.
"Greyscale, you are not staying here any longer, and that is final!" He laughed, and turned to face his mother.
"I thought, mother, that we had established tha-" Just then, an unfamiliar hoof was placed firmly on his shoulder. "Hey, what's the big idea?" He craned his neck to see who would be so bold as to lay a hoof on him, only to see a royal guard glaring at him.
"Sir, I am authorized to forcefully remove you from the premises if necessary, so why don't you just make this easier for everypony involved and come with me."
"Mother, there is no way you actually called the royal guard to kick me out! Is this some kind of joke?"
"I'm afraid not, you have made life very, very difficult for your father and I over the past few years, and you have managed to mooch off of us for far too long. If you had any belongings, I would tell you to gather them, but in your case, just go with the guard. I wish I didn't have to do this, but you need to learn a lesson."
"This is not happening, I refuse to believe that this is happening!" Greyscale bit his leg to try and wake himself up, but it was no dream.
"Sir, if you could stop biting yourself and come with me, that would be great."
"Just who do you think you are? If you think you can do this on your own, then you sir are very mistaken!" Having had just about enough of him, the guard clamped hoof cuffs onto Greyscale and dragged him up the stairs. "H-hey! You'll regret this! I swear to Celestia, mother, you will pay for this!" The guard brought him to a holding cell, and left him with only a loaf of bread and some water. "Hey, come back here! I want my phone call!" The guard paid him no heed. As far as he was concerned Greyscale could rot in that cell. The guard took his normal spot beside his buddy in the station and settled in.
"So, Where'd you find this clown?"
"Some idiot who wouldn't leave his parents' house. Kind of thing happens every day, some entitled jerk thinks he should be able to live off his parents his whole life, and when it's time to move on, he just can't."
His friend chuckled. "Sounds a lot like you."
"Hey, I left willingly! Well... eventually, anyways." The two ponies chuckled. Suddenly, the door creaked open. The two guards turned to see who had come in, and dropped to their knees as soon as they did. "P-princess, we weren't told you were visiting, what a p-pleasant surprise!"
"At ease, soldiers." Celestia chuckled. "I'm here to see somepony you've just brought in, I believe his name is Greyscale?"
"R-really? He's just a dumb, drunk, kid!"
Celestia raised eyebrow. "Are you saying I can't see him?"
"N-no, of course not Princess, I..." The guard trailed off, and opened the door for the Princess. "T-take as long as you n-need..."
"Thank you, but I don't think I'll be too long." Celestia walked to the cell Greyscale was in. He was sitting in the corner, facing the wall. "Greyscale?" He had no wish to give whoever this was so much as the time of day, but it would be more fun to be rude about it instead.
Greyscale put on his gruffest voice. "Whaddya want?"
"I'd like to talk to you about something."
"And what makes you think I'd talk to you?" Greyscale was still facing the wall, for he did not care who was here to talk to him.
"Just a hunch..." Celestia levitated him with her magic and turned him around to face her.
"Oh, Princess Celestia! I mean, uh, what do you want?" He almost bowed, then remembered that he was supposed to be rebellious.
"Have you heard of the Constellations of Harmony?"
"That old mare's tale? Everypony knows they don't exist."
"I'm sure. The Constellations of Harmony were raised along with the moon and the rest of the stars every night, and they enhance the power of the Elements. Most ponies do not believe them. Six ponies are trained to raise the constellations as the current raisers prepare to retire. Princess Luna and myself have put a lot of effort into finding suitable replacements, and you seemed to be one of them, now..." Greyscale tuned her out. Ugh, exposition by narration, boooring! Greyscale began to daydream, but Celestia interrupted.
"Greyscale? Are you listening to me? This is very important, you know."
"Agh! Um, yes. Definitely."
"So far, we have found suitable Raisers for Magic, Kindness, and Generosity. With any luck, you will become Laughter."
"Me? What makes you think I could– Hell, what makes you think I would raise a constellation? I'm still not even convinced they exist."
"You weren't the first choice, but all of our other options have turned up nothing. Despite your recent behavior, we believe that you, at your core, embody laughter in some form. Will you come with me, so that you can discover the truth?"
"What if I'm not the pony you're looking for? I suppose you'll throw me back in here to rot, huh?"
Perhaps I can appeal to a different side of him... "You have been placed under arrest, remember? This is your only easy way out right now."
"...Fine. I'll go with you to take your stupid tests, or whatever. If it turns out I'm the one, maybe I'll stick with you. What do I get out of this, anyways?"
"Well, besides your freedom, you will gain quite a lot of power, not to mention you will find your inner self."
What a load of shit. "Alright, fine. Let's go, I haven't got all day."
"Thank you." She unlocked the door and led him through the station and out into the open. "Ready?"
"For whaOOOW!" He found himself cut off by a teleportation spell. "God! You could've given me a little more warning, don't you think?"
Celestia chuckled. "Look around." He found himself in a large room with plenty of ponies in lab coats milling about. The floors were made of white marble, and in the center was a large seal which read 'Quatuor Stellae In Ungulis'.
"What is this place?"
"Tell me, do you know the name 'Medeis'?"
"What, you mean that idiot who's always blowing himself up?" On cue, a large explosion rocked the room, and the lights flickered and died.
"That's the one."
Quatuor Stellae In Ungulis
An alarm blared from everywhere at once, it's piercing shriek responsible for many covered ears. The room lit up red from emergency lights along the walls. Somepony deactivated the emergency system, and the room thankfully returned to normal just as a maroon unicorn stallion with a short and singed silvery mane stumbled in.
"Is everypony alright?" the new pony called, looking around anxiously before spotting the princess. "Ah, Princess! To what do I owe this unexpected visit?"
"We've found Laughter, Medeis. Now would you mind telling me what just happened?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Well, I was testing the new liquid fuel engine, and there was a sudden surge of Botryon particles in the vicinity, which disrupted the oxidizer balance, causing the explosion just now. The surge could have been the result of powerful magic, like core manipulation, or..." He paused and sniffed the air. "Teleportation. Princess, I do believe I warned you about unannounced teleportation in the premises?"
"You might have... I, er, must have forgotten. I do apologize, I hope nothing expensive was damaged."
"Oh, don't worry, I can replace twenty kilolitres of liquid oxygen easily," he deadpanned. "not like it's expensive or anything."
"Glad to hear it. Now, would you care to meet Laughter?"
Medeis placed a hoof on his forehead. "I'd love to."
Greyscale stepped forward. "Your reputation for blowing shit up precedes you."
"It's called progress, you can't break an omelette without making a few eggs."
"That's not– Nevermind. So, supposedly I'm 'Laughter'. Not that I care. Who are you supposed to be?"
"I will raise the Constellation of Magic, once we find the last two."
"So you must be pretty important, huh? Not just anypony gets a royally funded R&D center all to themselves."
"I'd like to think I matter, yes. Son if Ignis Botrus, perhaps you've heard of him? He invented the first liquid fuel engine. Well, he thought it up, anyways. I built the first one, and it looks like I'll have to re-invent it now, considering the original is in several large, and many not-so-large, pieces." He subtly glared at the Princess, who took no notice.
"So what's the big deal about these stupid stars anyway?"
"They're not stupid, they hold the future of ponykind. But I assume you mean the constellations. I doubt somepony of your mental caliber would understand if I went into detail, but in laypony's terms, they boost the power of the Elements of Harmony. Now that the elements have been reawakened, new Raisers must be found. If you're up to scratch, we've only got two left to find."
"So we're supposed to raise these 'Constellations'? Isn't that Luna's job?"
"She, for lack of a better term, 'raises' the stars, yes. But the Constellations of Harmony are a little different, and require even more power than a princess can harness. Once all the Raisers are found, we'll test our skill and see if we can do it. The five of you will learn to feed your innate magical energy into me, but it will be up to each of you to guide the stars into their correct positions in the sky. Keep in mind that the Constellations aren't normal stars, they just look like them. In fact, they stay in a lunar orbit that keeps them hidden until they are moved."
"I lost ya' at 'innate magical energy', but I think I get the gist of it."
"I suppose I'll have to take what I can get. What's your name, by the way?"
"Greyscale, not that it's any of your business."
Medeis eyed the stallions silver coat and grey mane. "I can see why. So, would you care to meet the others?"
He chuckled. "Do I have a choice?"
"I'm afraid not. If you and the princess will follow me, we'll be on our way." The trio made their way through the complex, finally reaching an ornate door. "This is the dormitory. Some of the staff prefer to live close to their work, plus the rent is cheap. With any luck, the others are still in here." He pushed open the door, and they trotted inside. "Looks like Sunbeam is the only one here, so I suppose you'll be meeting her first."
"Which one is she?"
"She raises Kindness. Sunbeam, could you come here for a moment?"
A pale pink pegasus trotted over to the group. "What can I do for you?"
"I'd like you to meet the new Laughter. The princess is convinced he's the one, hopefully she's right. Greyscale, Sunbeam. Sunbeam, Greyscale."
"So, a clipboard for a cutie mark? What's your talent?"
"I'm a psychologist. And a pretty good one, if patient success rate is anything to go by. There's hardly anything I can't diagnose. I see you have yet to obtain your mark, what exactly do you do?"
He pursed his lips. "I'm... between jobs at the moment."
"I see. Well, if you're going to join us, you'll have to find something. The Elements don't get paid for simply being the Elements, and we don't get paid for raising the Constellations. If you'd like, I could provide a character reference."
"Like I need a character reference! I'll find something on my own, you'll see."
"If you're sure. Have you met Chenille yet?"
Medeis stepped in. "He has not. Do you happen to know where she is?"
"She said he was going to Pony Joe's to get some donuts, I'm sure she'll be back before too long. you should probably wait for her here, we're scheduled for a light drizzle today. Of course, if you'd like to go anyways, I could lend an umbrella."
The light patter of rain drew Greyscale's gaze to the window. "You know, I think I'd prefer to stay inside."
